Courts

Criminal

Bucks County Adult Probation and Parole

Supervision Philosophy

We believe that the most effective way to increase community protection is to assist the offender in becoming integrated into the community as a non-violent, crime-free contributing member of society. We have always believed that we can contribute to this most effectively by having our officers in the community, supervising the offenders in their homes, places of employment, treatment agencies, or other community locations. Our officers supervising offenders in the community work a 40-hour flex week so appointments can be made around the offender's work and treatment schedules. General Supervision Officers are only required to be in the office four hours a week.

Of course, an officer seeing an offender for only short periods of time each month in and of itself will realistically have little direct impact on the offender's life or behavior. That is why we do not see our Probation and Parole Officers as being direct service providers, but rather, as being "Brokers of Services." Brokers of Services are officers who assess offender risk and needs and refer the offender to appropriate community based services. Not only do they make the referral, they follow-up to monitor compliance or to see that the offender receives the services they need. It is not unusual for an officer to meet with a treatment provider and the offender at the same time. Having the officer in the community is essential for knowing services. It is also essential in helping make accurate assessments of risk and needs by observing the offender's environment rather than relying on the offender's description of their environment.

In 2005 we began an initiative to train our entire staff in evidence-based practice and motivational interviewing. With annual refreshers, we have trained all of our staff, other correctional staff, as well as many Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol therapists and case managers. The emphasis of this initiative is recidivism reduction with offenders under our supervision.

For those unable to comply with their court ordered probation or parole, our officers return them to the court for a violation hearing. Our officers are sworn Peace Officers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and can make arrests of offenders and return them to jail pending a violation hearing. Our officers are trained to make arrests, trained in self-defense and certified annually in our Conflict Control Training. Coordinating and working with local police is also essential and satisfying our mission of public safety. By helping the local police to be successful in their jobs we serve to enhance community protection.

We have always believed that we should work to help make victims of crime whole. Historically we have done this through our monitoring and collection of restitution as well as the enforcement of Community Service Hours. Our Officers are aggressive in establishing payment plans and collecting restitution. Some offenders go to jail if they do not pay restitution. We continue restitution collection even after a person has served their entire sentence in jail.

Today, our commitment to the work with victims can be seen in our Domestic Violence Supervision Protocol that has victim safety as its primary goal. We continue to look for new ways of helping create a safer community, and respond to the victims of crime.